Failsafe
by Tarawr
Summary: Charon's employer attempts to shred his contract, thus activating his failsafe.


Charon sat still in the darkness for a few moments, staring off into space, his disturbingly blue eyes more hollow and emotionless than usual.

He took to spinning his dagger in his right hand idly. He squeezed the very tip of the blade between his fingers, and then loosely spun it around to catch the handle in his steely grip.

This shouldn't have been a big deal for him. He just did what he was trained… _programmed_, he corrected himself, to do. He's had to do it before, and he will most likely have to do it again in the future.

Many of his employers had been backwards fools. They thought that Charon's number one priority was to serve them. Quite the contrary, his first duty was always to protect his contract.

His employer came second.

He spun the dagger slower, slower, slower still until he completely stopped and became still as a statue in the chair he was settled in.

His large hand tightened around the handle as he thought back to the events earlier that day.

His new employer, whom he had been with for a little over a month now – a mere blink in time for how long Charon had been alive for – was undeservedly kind to him.

He had saved her life on several occasions and helped her out in many ways, but he still deserved none of her kindness.

Elizabeth was unlike any employer he ever had. He was not treated like a slave under her employ. He was free to come and go, but Charon could sense how tense she got without him around to keep her company, so he rarely ever left.

He could converse with anyone he pleased – although he never really exercised that right all that much to begin with.

She allowed him to sleep for as long as he wished, although he only needed roughly two hours a night to function correctly, and the longest he had ever slept in his entire life at one time was four.

Even though he had no real need for any of the freedoms she gave him, the fact of the matter was that he was _grateful_. For once in his fucked-up existence, he knew what it felt like to be near a genuinely decent person.

It actually made him feel… almost happy.

He could tell that there was something special – something different – about this woman when she purchased his contract. It may have been the look in her eyes; the way she could still manage to smile even though the whole world had gone to hell.

In a strange way, Charon thought it was almost cute when she nearly bolted out of the room when he blew Ahzrukhal's head to bits. Then again, Charon had developed a very fucked-up sense of humor over his existence…

Sporting that smile she almost always seemed to carry, Elizabeth descended the stairs of her Megaton home and walked over to where Charon had busied himself reading one of his employer's many books, legs crossed in a chair.

She stopped a mere two feet in front of him, and to his surprise, pulled his contract out of her top.

"Charon," She started cheerfully. "I've made a decision. You have helped me a lot. I figure that this is the least I can do for you."

She held the contract in front of her chest, daintily gripped between her fingers. Right when Charon heard the sound of paper ripping, something in his brain snapped.

Without a conscious thought, he was standing and the book was long forgotten on the chair. He firmly, and perhaps a bit roughly, grabbed her by the wrists to keep her hands in place and prevent any further tearing. He spun around and practically slammed her back into the wall, still securely gripping her wrists.

Her eyes swelled with fear and she let the contract drop to the floor. Something in his brain made his hands release her, and she ran outside wordlessly.

Charon wanted to say something, but she was extremely fast, and by the time his conscious brain started booting back up, he couldn't even think of anything to say.

What could he have said? _Sorry that I nearly broke your wrists over a scrap of paper_?

Charon looked down at his contract. He picked it up, his hands feeling as if they were on fire. Coming into contact with the document always had that effect on him.

He placed the book that he had dropped on the chair back into its proper place on the shelf and settled into the chair as he read his contract.

It was rather pointless of him to read it, since the words had been long ago burned into his brain, but he read on nevertheless.

…_and above all else, should the Contract fall under the threat of being destroyed or altered, the subject must take any and all action necessary to prevent this_.

Charon stared at the paper for a few moments longer before resting it on top of the bookshelf near him. He switched the light off, suddenly wishing to be submersed in dark. He took the dagger out of the top of his left boot, and began fiddling with it…

His large hand clenched around the handle even tighter as he came back to reality. Charon sighed as he released the dagger, allowing it to clatter loudly to the floor. Elizabeth had been gone for about a half an hour now, so he felt it would be necessary to go looking for her. For all he knew, she could have been in danger.

Since his contract was safe, his only other concern was the safety and happiness of his employer.

He walked out into the cool night air of Megaton; cooler still since it was down pouring.

Charon stood on the porch, the rain drenching him within a matter of minutes. He looked around at the various locations that Elizabeth could have gone to.

It was far too late for the Craterside Supply to be open. Moira was an insane bitch, but even she knew when it was time to close up shop for the day.

Charon knew Elizabeth well enough to know that she would never set foot in the Church of Atom.

Maybe she had wandered up to Moriarty's to speak to Gob, as she often did when she had to speak to someone on a more emotional level; a level of interaction that Charon was not versed well in in the least.

The chances were a little too slim, Charon decided. Gob was, after all, a slave to that Moriarty bastard, and was allowed little to no freedom. Hell, half the time Moriarty wouldn't allow her to even remain in his bar unless she had ordered something, to which she would usually just order some Purified Water and sip casually on as her and Gob continued with their conversation.

There was really only one other place that he could think to look…

The rain was starting to piss him off. It kept finding its way into his nose – or lack thereof – dripping down into his eyes, causing him to walk slower to rub the unwanted moisture out of his eyes. After a while, Charon just started walking with his head down and his hand clasped over his nose.

For a moment, he was grateful that it was nighttime. He looked horribly awkward.

The rain let up slightly, and he took the chance to look ahead.

Charon was nearing his destination, but he couldn't see Elizabeth anywhere around Vault 101.

He stood still a few feet away from the door and began thinking of where else she could have gone to.

Just as he was preparing to set out to search any nearby location he stumbled upon, Charon heard something shuffling around in the mud a few feet off. His face tensed, and he pulled his shotgun from the spot on his back, moving closer.

He took his finger from the trigger as soon as he saw the familiar glow of a Pip-Boy. He latched the gun onto his back, causing Elizabeth to look up at him from her resting spot on the muddy ground.

Charon crossed his arms and leaned to the side as he looked down at her. "Please forgive me for my behavior. I was simply-"

"I know, Charon…" Elizabeth said. Her voice sounded so small and broken that he nearly missed it. "You were just doing what you were taught to do… I read the contract, you know…"

Charon squinted, feeling the need to ask why she still decided to attempt at ripping the contract if she knew what would happen, but she started speaking again in a slightly stronger tone.

"I just… some stupid part of me thought that I could somehow kill off the part of you that is kept by the contract. I hate feeling like a fascist. I don't want to rule over you. That's more or less what happened to me in here-" She tilted her head in the direction of Vault 101. "-and I absolutely hated it. I want you to be your own person. I want you to work alongside me because you want to. Not because you're brainwashed…"

They were both quiet for a minute. Charon had never really been looked at as an individual before, and this was evoking different thoughts and feelings within him.

Charon knelt down next to his employer. It felt strange to do this outside of combat, but he felt that it would be a proper reaction if one were to comfort someone.

He couldn't tell her what she wanted to hear, and it made him feel almost hurt in a way. Charon couldn't just rip up the contract and undo all of the countless years of brainwashing him. It was a permanent part of him; forever and always. Hell, just thinking about destroying the contract and defying direct orders from an employer gave him an instant migraine.

Deep down, Charon knew that Elizabeth was aware of these facts, but he didn't want to dash her hopes. That was one of the countless things that he admired about her: her undying hope. It was a rare thing to come by these days.

"In all honesty," Charon began, his voice unusually quiet. "If I were to have a choice in the matter, I would prefer to accompany you over anyone I have met throughout my life."

Elizabeth mulled this over, pulling her dark hair that clung to her face back. Charon had been alive for quite a long time, so this meant a lot to her.

"Really?" She asked, wiping some rain off of her face.

Charon did his version of smiling, which consisted of his expression softening slightly, and he nodded briefly.

With a strange chuckle, Elizabeth leaned over and wrapped her arms around Charon, nearly knocking him on his ass. She buried her face into one of his shoulders for a moment, causing Charon to feel greatly out of his element.

He had his arms spread wide, both to keep his balance and because he was pretty uncomfortable at the unexpected closeness. Once he got the chance to get used to it, he slowly put one arm around her shoulders, resting the other hand palm-down on the muddy earth.

Charon was grateful for how little flesh he had on his face, otherwise he would be blushing horribly.

Elizabeth let go and went back to resting on her spot in the mud. She looked serious now; almost sad.

"I want to go back…" She said.

Charon looked at her, confused.

"It's stupid, but I want to go back to the Vault." She went on. "I want things to go back to like how they were. I miss my dad, and in a strange way, I even miss the rest of the people in there."

Charon had no clue what to say to that. He just sat next to her with his face down. He didn't have room saying anything, since he had never really "missed" anything in his life. He couldn't relate to what she was feeling.

After a few moments of silence, a string of laughter erupted from her throat.

"I'm sorry, Charon… I got you all muddy, too." She stood up and reached for his hand. "Come on – let's get back to Megaton."

He looked up at her and reached for her hand. They started their trek back to Megaton, and the rain didn't cause such a big problem this time.

The whole way back, Charon couldn't help but sneak sidelong glances at his employer. She was a mystery to him. She was blindly kind to any and all, and gave even when she didn't have much for herself. No matter how rough things got, she stuck to the righteous path.

She had shown him nothing but decency time and time again. Never once did she exploit her power over him.

Elizabeth was the best person he had ever met - throughout his entire existence - and he was proud to find himself in her employ.

His only concern right now was cleaning his damn armor.


End file.
